Author
Topic: How do you pronounce words? (Read 89796 times)

Clique...'Click' or 'Kleek'?I say click. My husband says kleek. As it turns out, either is correct. Kleek used to be the correct pronunciation, but over time click is so common that it has become the norm, at least in the USA.

Any other words?

Logged

I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

The word sauna drives me batty. It's a Finnish word, and Finnish always has the emphasis on the first syllable. It also pronounces every letter in a word. So the correct way would be along the lines of SOU-na (like the first syllable of the word 'south'). I know the most common way to pronouce it in the States is SAW-na. If you say it like that in the part of Michigan I'm originally from, it definitely marks you as an outsider.

The word sauna drives me batty. It's a Finnish word, and Finnish always has the emphasis on the first syllable. It also pronounces every letter in a word. So the correct way would be along the lines of SOU-na (like the first syllable of the word 'south'). I know the most common way to pronouce it in the States is SAW-na. If you say it like that in the part of Michigan I'm originally from, it definitely marks you as an outsider.

There is an insurance commercial where they actually say it the "right" way - the first way you describe. It always cracks me up and makes me wonder if somebody from Michigan was working on the commercial and insisted on that pronunciation.

The word sauna drives me batty. It's a Finnish word, and Finnish always has the emphasis on the first syllable. It also pronounces every letter in a word. So the correct way would be along the lines of SOU-na (like the first syllable of the word 'south'). I know the most common way to pronouce it in the States is SAW-na. If you say it like that in the part of Michigan I'm originally from, it definitely marks you as an outsider.

Yes, on the sauna. I'm a Finnish-Portuguese and it bothers me to have the sah in sauna. It seems that new pronunciation came about with the popularity of spas.

Logged

I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

The word sauna drives me batty. It's a Finnish word, and Finnish always has the emphasis on the first syllable. It also pronounces every letter in a word. So the correct way would be along the lines of SOU-na (like the first syllable of the word 'south'). I know the most common way to pronouce it in the States is SAW-na. If you say it like that in the part of Michigan I'm originally from, it definitely marks you as an outsider.

There is an insurance commercial where they actually say it the "right" way - the first way you describe. It always cracks me up and makes me wonder if somebody from Michigan was working on the commercial and insisted on that pronunciation.

I love that! I saw it, too, and had to go back and look again and draw it to my husband's attention.

Logged

I've never knitted anything I could recognize when it was finished. Actually, I've never finished anything, much to my family's relief.

Living in Philly, the stuff that comes out of the tap is either "wooder", or "wadder". That t in the middle? Hallucination, it's really a d.

Also, I pronounce sauna as "sawh-nah", but that's because in American English, at least, the "au" is pronounced like the word "awe". Fauna. Auburn. Maul. Cauliflower. (Although I've also heard "call-i-flower" for that)

The pronunciation of a couple of towns here in north Texas has been known to make people's heads explode: Joshua and Rio Vista. Natives pronounce them "Josh-uh-way" and "Rye-o-vista." Kid you not. And the town up the road from me, Italy, is pronounced "Itt-lee."

Then there's also Bexar County (sounds like Bayer) and Mexia (Muh-HAY-yuh). Oh, and the Brazos (brazz-us) River.

For the word lilacs I know people who say li-lacks, and others say li-locks. Either way - the li-lack leaves are starting to bud at my house, and the little flowers will sure smell good in a few weeks.

The word sauna drives me batty. It's a Finnish word, and Finnish always has the emphasis on the first syllable. It also pronounces every letter in a word. So the correct way would be along the lines of SOU-na (like the first syllable of the word 'south'). I know the most common way to pronouce it in the States is SAW-na. If you say it like that in the part of Michigan I'm originally from, it definitely marks you as an outsider.

I knew you had to be from Michigan. I learned to say it there and when I went elsewhere, I wondered why they didn't know how to say it!